I bring home paper sacs. Hey, they're free. Well almost. You do usually have to buy something. Sometimes there's a momento crumb still left inside...sniff

Souvenir napkins- tell me you NEVER brought back a souvenir napkin from Paris. I dare you. They are light weight. The red napkin at the bottom is from tea at Hediard...

Shhhhh, I did once dumpster dive on Place Madeleine for a perfectly excellent macaron box - it called my name... Stickers-I LOVE French stickers / Les autocollants.I never forget to snag some. Many places have more than one design - candy / confisier stores are terrific for these.

Carte de visit - you can pick up them on the way out the door.

French biz cards are the best.

Don't forget you have to ask for the l'addition / bill in a French restaurant. Don't sit there and expect it to show up. And don't dare get up and walk out impatiently. You can land in jail for not paying. Doing dishes is NOT an option in France unless it's behind bars. The exception is in a cafe. They will bring the bill with your order in a special designated dish like instantly.

My l'addition from Hotel Meurice - only thing you can take away that isn't nailed down is this tiny Canderel sugar packet. No sugar cubes, nuttin! You've already seen enough of my sugar cube collection...

Another trash collection gem - a paper bag from some boulangerie.

I tried to smooth out the wrinkles for you :)

This little bag says it all - the care, the attention, the wit that goes into the small, quotidien things of French life..?

57 comments:

Those items are not trash but the treasures of a holiday. Yes, my bag is filled with the same things when I return. The pink box from Savarin in Uzes sits before me on my desk. Isn't it fun to remember?

Carol on my recent trip to Paris from Australia I carried a lovely red leather journal, handbag size that some dear friends bought for me. Every day I collected ticket stubs from Paris Opera, Musee d'Orsay, The Louvre, restaurants etc and at night when all was quiet I wrote in my journal of everything I had experienced and then I pasted the relevant ticket stubs in there, I simply cannot throw them out. I am not a hoarder, I simply treasure the memories of my first trip to Paris.

Thank you for all your entertainment that I am sure everyone enjoys as much as I do, merci x

O what lovely treasures for the future too. I have a friend who collects shopping bags. Eventually they were hung near the ceiling throughout her walk in closet. Think what a kitchen pantry could look like one day for you-!

Love it! I have a huge envelope full of French trash--receipts and business cards and napkins and those little bits of decorated paper they slip around a baguette. Every piece is too artistic to toss. One of these days I'm going to decoupage something with them. Great post, Carol!

Well....you totally have me beat on a fantastic ribbon collection! I must catch up. Yes, I have enough gelato spoons to open a store! I have every scrap of ephemera I can shove into the outside pockets of my suitcase from every trip! Great post....lots of memories brought back.

This post made me smile this morning - the first and only time I've been to Paris I had little money so my souvenirs where "paper" like yours. I did however bring home as many of the individually wrapped sugar cubes as I could - my trip lingered on with every coffee once I returned to the US. Your blog really is awesome - just found it.

I'm a scrapbooker and when I came back from taking my granddaughter to Paris I was doing a layout about having lunch at Angelina's. Kate had ordered a Croque Madam and when I ordered a Croque Monsieur she changed her mind and her order. It wasn't until I was adhering the bill to the layout that I realized they had charged me for three sandwiches! Oh, well... We also had an Opera, a Eclair Cafe and two Cafe Glace. I loved Angelina's. We visited Laduree on the Champs Elysees, but only to carry out goodies. We wanted to go back for lunch or tea but never did. One of my favorite cafes is Grand Corona in Place De L'Alma.

I bring back sugar packs, coasters, napkins, bags, receipts, metro passes and anything that's not nailed down. Once on a visit to London I brought back a leaf from a bush on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. It is laminated and in a scrapbook.

I just have to comment. I love all that stuff. The ribbons, gift bags, receipts etc. Even the plastic spoons.Those are the things I love to keep. In 1996 when I went to Paris; I also loved the little packs of sugar that are like sticks instead of the little packets we usually have here.Good job Carol!

Plus, they provide tons of good sketching opportunities, I'm sure, eh? Lovely, Carol. I save all kinds of things when I travel--coasters from restaurants, bags, like you do, movie tickets, (I've been known to save metro and bus tickets, too), hotel receipts, soaps in pretty packets (I put those in baskets in our guest room) and notepads from hotels...I love 'em! I hang them all on my bulletin board thing and slide them under the ribbons so I can look at them all day and dream of vacations.

I just wanted to tell you how much I love your splashes of color (or greys!) every day. Paris Breakfasts is such a different kind of blog; it's very refreshing. I've added you to my blogroll, and hope to see your show when you're in DC.Best,Sheila

I forgot to say that sometimes if you are lucky and ask very politely, you can get menus from restaurants. I have one from Le Sud and one from Le Nord framed and hanging in my kitchen (These are lovely restaurants in Lyon).

Carol, you constantly amaze me with the esoteric, and always creative postings on your PB blog.Part of the pleasure...and adventure, is never knowing where you will take your many world-wide fans when paying you a visit.Bill

HiI am probably the only person who brings back toilet paper from France. At monoprix they have pink toilet paper I write a blog about pink living. There is a photo of it on my blog!! I save sugar cubes and business cards too.Check out my blogMarie Arden Pink LivingIf it is down I am having computer serviced soon- it will be back up soon

Yes, I have to admit to bringing back paper napkins and the usual bling from hotel rooms. But what I treasure above all others are the dockets and large business cards from the fabric shops in Rue d'Orsel. They are the first thing I see when I open my business folder next to my computer. Bliss.

Receipts, matchbooks, napkins, little soaps and shampoos from the hotel, the plastic toothpick that comes with the box of Jean-Charles Robhoux chocolates, postcards, museum passes, maps, metro tickets, acorns (didn't know you weren't supposed to do that!), an autumn leaf, Euros (unfortunately mostly coins), small shopping bags...now that I think of it, it's no wonder I had no room to pack the treasures I purchased!

Carol!I do this all the time, but with the emballages from the boulangerie of my little village outside Paris, including that which came with la galette des rois! I use all these things to decorate my student room and office in Canberra! Thank you so much for your blog.

OH MAN! I have BAGS of this stuff!!! And I was pleased to see my fav chocolatier in one of your photos too..PLEASE pop into my blog and check out my Design on a Centime link on my sidebar, I wallpapered my powder room ceiling with a lot of my sturdier stuff!

I just can't bare to part with the rest of it...the little Deux Magot receipts and green business cards reminding me of beloved macarons...

Hi Carol, my name is Miriam and I am a visitor of your blog. It is so funny your post about Paris Trash!! Visiting Paris is in my dreams. With God´s help, I will someday, and I will sure bring back Paris Trash too!! My daughter recently went to Singapore for two weeks as part of her college studies in Buffalo State College. I told her for souvenir to bring me just that!! empty bottles, whatever product empty bags that she used, even just to go outside and collect rocks or dirt!! to me that´s a perfect souvenir. Fun post!!

I collect the same things.It's so nice to see that others share this obsession. When I have people over I use all the napkins from different restaurants. the last time I was in France the waitress thought I was crazy. She put a napkin down, and I immediately folded it and put it in my bag. I have so many that now I have started to frame them and put them up all over my kitchen. I know it's just those little things that remind you of France. I collect sugar, shopping bags, plastic bags, ribbons from packages,Lotus tissues (the small size)those small pieces of chocolate they serve with your cafe creme, and yes, even those thin paper bags from anything bought in Paul's. Merci for your blog!!!!!

Reading your blog has become part of my morning routine; as regular as reading the daily news. I have my daughter to thank. She loves Paris and she's been there twice, so far. She keeps everything from Paris! Including receipts and tags.

I keep lovely things too. I've started adding them to my journals. I thought we were the only keeper of lovely things like bags until today. :D I referenced your blog in a post on one of my new blogs. I have four-going-on five. Thank you for making my days lovelier. Your blog borders on bliss.

It's so good to know I'm not the only person who brings home things like this :) I have sugar packets from Ireland and newspapers from India! Hmm, dumpster diving in Paris? Now that sounds like a sport to me ;)

Funny thing is, all I care about is keeping the Demel bags. I seldom buy anything elsewhere, I need to look out for it. I do collect sugar cubes and those mini-packets, also match-boxes which are aplenty here in Vienna (smokers, eeek!), but also beautiful.

Oh my gosh...I thought I was the only one with this problem! haha. I came back with bags of all sorts and paper items and kept them all...even my metro tickets and extra stamps. I put them all in a photo album. Loved this post!

HelloI'm french, I found your website on google. I realise how lucky I was and I didn't know that we could be a so addict to French food. Anyway I love it. Your posts are great and funny.Sorry if I maked some English mistakes. Au revoir

I've been reading your diary for a few weeks now, first thing every morning!It's your collection of paper bags and receipts that's incited me to write. I brought all of mine back from paris too and was sort of ashamed to admit it. They're all brilliant pictures. Have you been to a shop called 'La Cure Gourmande'? I love your site. Luce